What is it?

Dyspgraphia is a writing disability in which a person finds it difficult to form letters or write within a defined space. The demand of needing to combine the complex mixture of tasks needed for a satisfactory written result may be difficult.

What are the features of it?
Evidence of difficulties with spelling, poor handwriting and trouble putting thoughts on paper and poor organisation of writing on the page.

Common challenges experienced by those with Dysgraphia:

• Difficulty getting ideas on paper.
• Poor body awareness or feedback in the hands.
• Less than age appropriate written communication output.
• Poor endurance for handwriting.
• Limited motivation for written academic tasks due to their known difficulties with it.

Management strategies that help the child with Dysgraphia (at preschool, school or home):

• Additional time to complete written tasks.
• Alterative ways to express knowledge (e.g. verbal response rather than written, or others scribing for them, or voice activated computer software).
• An older student may use a computer to write long pieces of work.
• Adult awareness of the issues, the inherent challenges and the strategies that can help.

Occupational Therapy approaches and activities that can support the individual or their carers include:

• Providing specific physical supports for pencil mechanics to make writing easier.
• Trialing various pencil grips and/or a slant board.
• Trialing and using adapted paper to reduce the attention to detail from memory alone.
• Developing visual processes/sequences to assist with getting ideas on paper (e.g. ‘Mind maps’ etc.).
• If getting started is a problem, encouraging pre-organisation strategies(e.g. sentence starters).
• Sentence structure games.
• Word association games.